Louise Giovanelli: A Song of Ascents

‘A painting should be the beginning of something. The best paintings are those that endure in your mind – because there’s this sense of mystery to them.’ Louise Giovanelli

Louise Giovanelli (b. 1993, London, UK) creates hypnotic paintings that radiate light. Her works regularly feature mysterious objects such as a closed pair of curtains, a shock of lustrous hair, or the reflective surface of a cocktail glass. Characters—often women—also appear, seemingly caught in a moment between reverence and despair, or about to reach a form of transcendence. Intimately cropped and cinematic in feel, her subject matter is deliberately ambiguous, and rendered with the analogue fuzziness of a memory or half-forgotten dream.

A Song of Ascents takes its title from a series of religious Psalms traditionally recited by pilgrims on their journey to sacred sites. For Giovanelli, the idea of ‘ascent’ reflects our human desire to reach heightened states of consciousness—whether through spiritual devotion, sensuality and love, intoxicating substances, the thrill of performance, or even horror. This journey unfolds in her paintings as an uncanny fusion of emotions, where exaggerated expressions, richly layered textures, and intense, colour-saturated imagery evoke both ecstasy and unease.

The exhibition features ten newly commissioned paintings alongside nine existing works; many are inspired by scenes from films, while some of the most recent paintings are created from photographs the artist has taken in working men’s clubs and theatres across the UK. These venues, often distinguished by modest stages, worn velvet curtains, and a unique blend of everyday informality and staged theatrics, are transformed through Giovanelli’s hand into sites of communal performance and escape. She highlights elements such as the voluptuous curtains, sagging with gravity, glittering sequinned fabrics, and focused spotlights to elevate these familiar spaces, giving them a sense of holiness.

Giovanelli’s paintings invite us to meet at a threshold where reality and imagination converge—a space charged with ambiguity, where each scene teeters between the sacred and the unsettling.

Louise Giovanelli: A Song of Ascents is organised in collaboration with HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark where the exhibition will be presented in 2025.

Louise Giovanelli (b.1993, London) lives and works in Manchester, UK. She studied at Städelschule, Frankfurt (2018–20) under the tutelage of Amy Sillman, having received her BA from the Manchester School of Art, UK, in 2015.

Solo exhibitions of her work have been held at Moon Grove, Manchester, UK (2023); Manchester Art Gallery, UK (2019); and The Grundy Gallery, Blackpool, UK (2016). Giovanelli’s work has been featured in group exhibitions that include; FLAG Art Foundation, New York (2023); Hayward Gallery, London (2021); AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam (2021); and The Art House, Worcester, UK (2019).

‘Her paintings contain visual throwbacks to the gilding and draperies of Renaissance paintings, yet also represent stars from films and pop culture.’ The New York Times

‘Louise Giovanelli’s paintings are concerned with stillness and anticipation – with what is, isn’t and might soon be seen.’ Frieze

Start or grow your art collection with a new limited edition lithographic print by Louise Giovanelli. This close-up of glossy, wavy hair continuing the artist’s series which focuses on tight frames of wigs. Produced in collaboration with Edition Copenhagen.

The Hepworth Wakefield is a charity and shop purchases support our mission to create exceptional art experiences that enhance everyone’s lives.

Edition of 60, of which The Hepworth Wakefield received 30 prints. Signed and numbered by the artist.

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Major Supporters:

Ryan Taylor Collection

Exhibition Circle:

Ken Li, & those who wish to remain anonymous